"Golden Texas Tea" (pg 19)

"This is exactly what I needed for thinking purposes!" she said while getting out of the car and changing into her sneakers. Grabbing the cell, she then locked up the car and began a short walk to cleanse the mind and lift the spirits. As she walked up the semi-closed side street that ran next to the mountain, Azalea could see how Walter had truly loved to walk up here.

No sound from the surrounding neighborhoods, or from the downtown area for that matter, just nature in all of its glorious beauty to behold. Her spirit truly became free, walking through the trees and the fresh mountain air as she slowly lost track of time.

At the quarter way point in her journey, she came across the closed portion of the street that ran next to the mountain. Peering into the darkness, Azalea began to receive a funny vibe from that particular direction.

Deciding that she was worrying too much about nothing, she climbed the concrete barrier and continued with her walk. Slowly making her way up the road, fully overgrown with trees and bushes, she could hear people in the backyards off to her right. Spying through the trees, she saw people who were having pool parties, or were having barbecues, or they were just simply enjoying the cool mountain air.

Now more melancholy than ever, she made it to the other barrier that signified the end of the closed road. Taking the worn out path that ran to the left, Azalea figured now would be as good a time as any to stop and rest before heading back to the car. Sitting there quite lost in deep thought, she didn't see or hear the car that was speeding down the road without its lights on, until it was too late to escape.

The car exploded on impact, instantly turning the mangled wreck into a raging fireball that consumed everything in a half mile path of destruction. At that very instant of impact, four other people became strangely affected.

Back home, Malibu and the kids were sitting on the couch, eating popcorn and watching a very bad movie, when all three experienced a very strange sensation. At the precise instant of the accident taking place, each of them felt an overwhelming surge of pain and deep sadness. So strong was this pain that each of them lost total control of their body, tossed their popcorn, slid off the couch and had a brief seizure.

At the motel room, Walter was sitting at the desk, looking at his cell while debating to give Azalea a call, when at the precise instant of the accident he experienced an intensely strong and painful seizure. It was so strong that Walter snapped his phone in two, slid off the chair, cracked his head on the edge of the chair, and landed with a sickening thud.